Cats on a Leash

Cats:

I feel strongly that they should not be walked on a leash as if they were dogs incapable of responsibility or self-reliance.  However, several of my neighbors disagree and choose to engage in this curious act on a daily basis.  I have good reason to believe that walking a cat on a leash is extremely unnecessary.  Growing up, my mom had Siamese cats that could open the front door in addition to making good use of the toilet, flushing it and all, like us humans do. 

My personal view on a cat's capability was formed in my callow years around the age of 10 (4th grade).  That year I began walking to and from school unescorted by my older brother who had moved on to bigger and better things, i.e., Junior High.  At some point early in the year it seems as though my cat, Billy, caught on to the fact that I was walking a mile to and from school all alone.  Now, Billy had always protected me... from spiders, snakes and birds in the back yard that were clearly out to harm me, but making sure I got to school safely was never a priority to him.  Or, if it was, I just never new about it until that year when everything changed.  

It started out slow.  Billy awoke early and waited outside in the wee small hours of the morning to see me off.  Within a week he was following me a few hundred yards from the house until I yelled at him to go home.  A month later he was trailing behind me by exactly 15 feet at all times and continuing the entire way to my school, stopping only when I turned around and acting invisible as if I had no idea he was following me in the first place.  (If he were a human he would have placed his hands in his pockets and started whistling while gazing in a far off direction and rocking back on his heels.)  In the beginning I was terrified that he would get lost and never find his way home, and so I made failing attempts to keep him in the house.  Yet to my surprise, ever day after school Billy met me a few blocks on my homeward trek, and we walked back together.  

I don't know the sort of risks Billy encountered during the course of a day while he waited for the school bell to ring.  But I do know that cats have at least nine lives and that they are quite adept to surviving on their own.  If a cat can walk a person to school and back, let's not deprive the cat of that which defines his very nature; that is, his independence, his mischievousness, his curiosity, etc.  Cats will go on a walk whenever and wherever, as soon as they're good and ready.  No leash required.